Watch Out for Amendment #1

Be careful of the tricky wording of Amendment #1 on the upcoming election.  It is being PR’d by the Louisiana Nursing Home Association as a benefit to the elderly in this state. This may not be the case.

When Mike Foster was governor of our state he used matching federal monies to set up the Medicaid Trust Fund for the Elderly.  The fund contained more than $830 million.   The original intent of the trust fund was to leave the principle intact and use the interest and investment earnings to fund community and home support services for the elderly so that they could remain living independently in their homes for a longer time.  It basically postponed the time when it finally became necessary to enter a nursing home facility.

When Jindal took over, he, along with legislators’ approval, raided the principal amount of the elderly trust fund to prevent Medicaid funding cuts from being implemented for PRIVATE nursing homes throughout the state. While other medical services throughout the state received drastic funding cuts, the PRIVATE nursing homes were shielded from such cuts with the fund’s money.

It is estimated that the ENTIRE fund will be wiped out by the end of Jindal’s term.

With an eye on the future, the Louisiana Nursing Home Association has realized their protection from state budget cuts is about to end.  Consequently, they got the legislators to propose a constitutional amendment that will protect nursing homes from any future state budget cuts, Amendment #1 on the ballot.

Amendment passage will make it very difficult for the state to reduce funding rates for nursing homes.

If yet another entity is protected by constitutional amendment from state budget cuts, deeper cuts will be made to education, medical services, behavioral help services, and home help services because they have no such constitutional funding protection.

Unlike what the Louisiana Nursing Home Association would like you to believe, a ‘NO’ vote will be the real benefit for senior citizens in our state.   It will allow legislators more opportunities to spread any future budgetary cuts equally among ALL aspects of care for the elderly, and permit more monies to be utilized to continue the services which allow seniors to remain living independently in their homes for a longer time.

It is imperative that legislators be given this budgetary flexibility in light of the fact that Jindal has completely wiped out the Medicaid Trust Fund for the Elderly, funds that will NEVER be restored.

Vote ‘NO’ for Amendment #1.